


Slip-Up

by razorbladetheunicron



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Divergence - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Crack Treated Seriously, Dead Darth Sidious, Fix-It, Inspired By Tumblr, M/M, OTP of the Force, That's Not How The Force Works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25926088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/razorbladetheunicron/pseuds/razorbladetheunicron
Summary: Sidious knows that Anakin will be a wonderful Sith. The boy is already teetering on the edge, lulled to the Dark Side by his careful edging and manipulation. He knows that just a push ever-so-slightly too far will be able to send him spiraling down into the Dark, never to reach back into the light.There is one problem that stands in the way of getting his apprentice: Kenobi. It should be so easy to dispose of him, but it never happens. Maybe on this little “rescue mission,” he’ll finally be able to dispose of that wretched Jedi once and for all.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 19
Kudos: 437





	Slip-Up

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this old post by vaderkin: vaderkin.tumblr.com/post/171384766330

In the end, Darth Sidious is essentially defeated by his own hubris.

It’s Skywalker who becomes his downfall, of course. In every universe where Sidious is defeated by another, there is always a Skywalker of sorts there. And always by the ones he is trying to place onto his own side.

To be frank, he deserves to die by his own creations. Bad teachers always end up hated by their students, after all.

But that is unimportant. What  _ is _ important, of course, is the foolish thoughts of Sidious the moments before his pathetic demise. Yes, it is  _ very _ pathetic, and this must be emphasized. Scum like Sidious deserve to die like sad little womp rats.

The demise of Sidious starts during a “rescue mission” led by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. He attempts to convince Anakin to leave the irritating Jedi behind, but the boy immediately denies him that pleasure. It’s a shame, really, but not too unexpected. Kenobi has always been the one steering Anakin away from the Dark, after all.

It is in a dingy elevator shaft where Sidious meets his end. Anakin is gripping tightly to something on the wall, Kenobi still completely safe on his shoulders, while Palpatine - for that is who he technically is at the moment - is stuck hanging onto just his ankle.

Of course, Sidious has no trouble keeping a hold of Anakin’s ankle. Palpatine, however, is just an innocent old man, and must struggle to keep his grip. He pretends that he is barely able to cling on, likely to slip into the abyss below if Anakin is not careful. There is the slightest touch of the Force from Anakin helping him hold on, but most of his efforts are blatantly being used on keeping Kenobi from falling.

In another universe, Sidious knows when to keep his mouth shut for a few seconds more. But in this universe, however, he speaks two words that determine his fate on a soon-to-be dying ship.

Even if Sidious falls, he knows that he can slow his descent using the Force to remain safe. Palpatine holding on loosely is nothing more than a front. The Light-soaked Force pressed on him by Anakin is rather revolting, but easy to tolerate. If he wasn’t so focused on  _ Kenobi _ , it might have been a least  _ slightly _ Dark.

But Sidious dies with one sentence. One measly little sentence, two words too long.

“Anakin, I’m slipping!” cries Palpatine, his hands shaking and fingers starting to slip. “Please, help me, not him!”

There is a moment where nothing changes. Anakin ignores Sidious in favor of Kenobi, and seems like he’s going to continue to do so.

Then raw Light burns Sidious’s hands so badly, that his grip entirely fades from Anakin’s ankle, and he plummets down a dirty elevator shaft. He tries to use the Force to save himself, but the Light has  _ literally _ burned his hands, and he is unable to reach for anything.

When he lands, his spine shatters in an instant and his skull cracks open. Later, his remains will vanish into plain dust, leaving only a blood-stained cloak behind.

As said before, he really does deserve it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anakin Skywalker accidentally kills the most powerful Sith of all time without knowing it for a few minutes. During those few minutes, he instead believes that he has failed a rescue mission to save Chancellor Palpatine, which, while depressing and disappointing, is just another life lost in the war at that moment.

Though he doesn’t know it, the death of the Sith begins when Palpatine tells Anakin to leave Obi-Wan behind. For a moment, his temper flares up at the old man, furious that he would even consider such an idea, before calming once more. Palpatine is, after all, not a soldier. He did not understand what he was asking.

And then in the elevator shaft. Anakin grips onto the wall tightly, struggling to support the weight of two people by just one arm. Palpatine has a rather strong grip on his ankle, which he helps with slightly by pressing the Force against the man’s hands. He might have considered giving more aid, if Obi-Wan hadn’t slipped down his shoulders ever-so-slightly.

Naturally, Anakin grabs onto Obi-Wan with as much Force as he can spare, making sure he doesn’t slip down even a little bit more. He feels Obi-Wan in the Force, still unconscious, but clearly starting to come back to. He’ll be awake again in no time.

Palpatine’s grip on his ankle slips, and Anakin winces as he applies slightly more Force to his hands. He needs just a second more to think, to wait for Obi-Wan to wake up. He needs just a moment to breathe, when-

“Anakin, I’m slipping!” cries Palpatine. “Please, help me, not him!”

Anakin doesn’t quite hear him, for a moment. His brain stutters on the idea of letting Obi-Wan fall, and can’t even properly put the idea together. And this is the  _ second time _ the Chancellor has told him to give up Obi-Wan! As if he’ll put Palpatine’s life before Obi-Wan’s!

_ Not him, _ echoes in the Force slowly.  _ This man believes you’ll choose him instead. _

And at that moment, something snaps within Anakin. The Force bends to his anger, wrapping layers of Light tightly around him and Obi-Wan, furiously lashing out at the man holding onto his ankle. The weight clinging onto him drops away, letting Anakin breathe once more. It almost even feels like some Darkness has been lifted away.

Of course, Obi-Wan wakes up just as Anakin realizes that Chancellor Palpatine has fallen to his death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obi-Wan Kenobi has no idea what has occurred in the few minutes he’s been unconscious. There is nothing unusual about this, as that is how brains tend to work, after all.

What he  _ does _ know, however, is rather concerning. There’s a massive drop below that has him grabbing on tightly to Anakin in a rush, an action that seems almost pointless when he then notices a second thing: that Anakin is dripping with excessive Force that has woven around them like a shield.

The third and fourth things that Obi-Wan knows in the scant seconds he’s been awake are that Anakin is very clearly panicking, and that Chancellor Palpatine is nowhere in sight.

“Please don’t freak out,” says Anakin quickly.

“What happened? Where’s the Chancellor?”

“Uh…” Anakin clearly winces, even as he unnecessarily makes sure Obi-Wan’s arms are looped carefully around him. “He was hanging onto my ankle and he... er, lost his grip?”

Unlike Anakin, Obi-Wan actually manages to process the information given to him at a reasonable speed. “The Chancellor  _ fell?” _ he asks incredulously. There’s so much Force in the air, how could Anakin have not been able to grab him?

“Yes, that’s what I implied,” says Anakin unhelpfully, looking around the elevator shaft.

“Anakin, we were supposed to rescue him!” That was their  _ main goal of the mission _ .

“I know-”

“Why didn’t you just leave me behind and get him out-”

“You must’ve banged your head harder than I thought,” Anakin says, almost sounding horrified. “No way I was going to do that...”

“Anakin, you can’t always try to save everyone-” Obi-Wan cuts himself off, shaking his head. “Sometimes you need to let  _ go _ , Anakin, and-”

“He wanted me to drop you,” he interrupts coldly.

“What?” There’s a shriek of metal above them, the Force bubble around them seeming to bend slightly, which is entirely ignored in favor of continuing to talk.

“He said that I should be helping him, not you,” clarifies Anakin. “And I just- I’m sorry, I just lost control for a moment-”

The Force bubble winds even tighter as Anakin speaks. “I really wouldn’t call this ‘in control’, Anakin-”

“Obi-Wan! I wasn’t about to-”

Being that they’ve both already forgotten that they’re hanging in an elevator shaft on an enemy ship, Anakin tries to turn around to properly yell at Obi-Wan. Therefore he lets go of the wall, and they both immediately start falling again. Somewhere in the Force, what remains of Qui-Gon Jinn is both amazed and horrified by the sheer stupidity he is witnessing.

Fortunately, Obi-Wan and Anakin’s brains actually turn back on when they start to fall. They reach at the Force surrounding them in synch, using it to kick off the wall and into an open elevator door. Since they are both still trying to have an argument, they hit the ground roughly and roll a few times, before coming to a stop.

Instead of sitting up, having a rational conversation, and then continuing on through the ship, Anakin and Obi-Wan elect to continue their fight as if nothing has happened. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Yoda feels a sudden urge to smack someone with his cane. He cannot, of course, since the Jedi who need smacking are lying on the floor of an enemy ship about to miss something very important.

To his credit, Obi-Wan does briefly attempt to pull his arm out from where Anakin is lying on it, but is immediately distracted by Anakin resuming yelling at him. The Light of the Force is surrounding them so heavily, still, that neither feels the pathetic whimpers of Dark dying in the elevator shaft right beside them. The rest of the Jedi are not so dense as to miss this, and all suddenly look up at feeling the very obvious death of a powerful Sith.

“I wasn’t about to drop you, Obi-Wan!” continues Anakin, completely missing anything of importance that has occurred within the last minute or so. “And it’s not my fault he lost his grip! I was trying to hold onto him, I swear!”

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan grabs Anakin’s chin with his free arm, forcing him to focus instead of going off on a rant of sorts. “You need to rein yourself in, then you can explain what happened, alright?”

Anakin stares for a moment, his eyes shining an unnatural blue, before he speaks again. “Right. Give me a second.”

The layers of Force wrapped around them begin to fall apart, back to being a simple presence rather than something truly there. Partway through, however, the obvious presence of Dark and Sith comes shrieking into existence, having been previously blocked by the Light around them. 

In reaction to the feeling of Dark-Sith-death-pain, Anakin immediately undoes his work and wraps even more Force around them, so quickly that Obi-Wan physically winces in response. Anakin curls in onwards Obi-Wan slightly, acting as a beacon for the excessive Force to flow through, his eyes darting around to try and find the source of the Dark.

“Did you feel that?” asks Anakin nervously, his composed facade starting to break.

“Of course I did,” replies Obi-Wan, trying to push away the Force around them. “And I’d like to try and  _ find it _ , please.” The Force bends, allowing for a small gap that the Dark can just barely be sensed through. “Thank you.”

This is when the two smartest-yet-dumbest Jedi in history suddenly realize that something is wrong. Because, as it would have been obvious if they were less dense, the fading away Dark - a clear indicator of a dead Sith - is located just below them and slightly to the side. Fortunately, Obi-Wan and Anakin aren’t  _ completely _ stupid, and actually manage to put together the clearly marked puzzle pieces in front of them.

“You don’t think-” starts Anakin, cutting himself off abruptly.

“He couldn’t possibly-” starts Obi-Wan, also cutting himself off.

They both stare at the elevator shaft, and then each other. “Kriff-” says Anakin at the same time as Obi-Wan says, “Oh, Force-”

Obi-Wan sighs, closing his eyes to think. “The Chancellor was a Sith?”

“He did try to make me leave you behind,” says Anakin, as if that is a sufficient explanation. “Plus I’m pretty sure no one else has died in there within the past few minutes.”

They’re both silent for another moment. “I suppose it’s not an  _ im _ possibility...”

“We killed a Sith!” interrupts Anakin, very clearly avoiding thinking about how all the times he has spoken to a certain-someone now seem very suspicious.

“We don’t know that for  _ sure _ -”

Anakin launches himself at Obi-Wan, grabbing him in a hug as they roll across the ground again. He has a bright grin on his face, lit up with a certain happiness that Obi-Wan hasn’t seen since the war started. With a sigh, Obi-Wan wraps his arms around Anakin in response, letting the Force flow freely between them.

“That we did,” says Obi-Wan, giving Anakin a small smile. “And entirely by accident, to boot.”

“It was his own fault,” says Anakin, his eyes glowing brightly. “He thought I could care more about him over how much I love you.”

And since it’s so clearly the will of the Force, Obi-Wan easily replies, “I love you, too.”

The Force lights up across the galaxy, felt by everyone, not just the Jedi. For the Chosen One, the Force-bond between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, has finally returned to bring balance. And just to be spiteful, the Force allows Sidious to be a ghost just long enough to see Anakin and Obi-Wan laughing happily together, before getting rid of him forever.


End file.
